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No. 11 Trojans Take 6-1 Win Over No. 8 Golden Bears

The No. 8 California women's tennis team (6-3, 2-0 Pac-10) fell in a 6-1 loss to the No. 11 Women of Troy (9-2, 0-0 Pac-10) today at the David X. Marks Tennis Stadium in Los Angeles. USC handed the Golden Bears their third loss of the season in nine matches. Cal was able to earn the doubles point by winning on courts two and three but fell to the Trojans on all six singles courts.

Junior Bojana Bobusic and freshman Rachael Dillon earned their fifth doubles victory together to put the Bears ahead in doubles play. Facing the No. 5-ranked pair of Amanda Fink and Gabriela Niculescu on court one, seniors No. 53 Susie Babos and Stephanie Kusano were overpowered, falling by an 8-2 score to knot things up for the doubles point. Stretching the match as far as it would go on court two, the duo of junior Claire Ilcinkas and freshman Marina Cossou pushed the No. 39-ranked team of Lindsey Nelson and Maria Sanchez to an eight-all tie, forcing a match tiebreaker. Cossou and Ilcinkas ran away with the win, holding the Trojans to just five points to clinch the doubles point for the Bears.

In singles play, senior No. 7 Susie Babos was the first Cal player to fall, losing 6-4, 6-3 on court one to No. 68 Lindsey Nelson. The USC win tied the match score at one point apiece. Sanchez won next on court five, defeating No. 87 Bobusic by a 6-4, 6-4 score to give the Trojans a lead that they would not relinquish. After fighting for a tiebreaker in the first set, Kusano lost a heartbreaker 7-6 on court six to Leyla Entekhabi, and could not recover, giving up the second set by a 6-0 score. No. 52 Cossou took her opponent No. 17 Fink to three sets but fell by a 6-1, 0-6, 6-3 score, giving USC its fourth point and clinching the match for the Women of Troy.

With the match decided, the Trojans took points on courts four and three as well, each three-setters. On court four, No. 97 Niculescu defeated No. 83 Ilcinkas 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 and on court three, senior Cristina Visico fell by a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 score to USC's Sarah Fansler.

The Bears remain in Los Angeles to take on UCLA in a noon non-conference match on Saturday. The Bruins are also ranked No. 11, in a tie with USC and are coming off a stunning 4-3 upset of No. 6 Stanford at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.